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Definition of west in English:

west

noun

1The direction towards the point of the horizon where the sun sets at the equinoxes, on the left-hand side of a person facing north:

‘the evening sun glowed from the west’

‘a patrol aimed to create a diversion to the west of the city’

‘Diego Garcia is located to the west of Chagos Trench, which runs north and south.’

‘The island, located to the west of the Isle of Mull and just south of neighbouring Coll, is one of the sunniest places in Britain thanks to its exposed location on the Atlantic Ocean.’

‘To the west of the gardens was the Place de la Concorde, which from its name sounded like it should have been be a haven of peace and harmony but turned out to be a giant roundabout with a big Egyptian obelisk in the middle.’

‘Allithwaite, which lies to the west of Grange, north of Kents Bank, is also close to picturesque Humphrey Head, the tallest limestone cliff in Cumbria.’

‘Developers want to put up a series ultra-modern buildings directly to the west of the train station.’

‘It will pass to the west of Giggleswick and continue north towards Ingleton.’

‘As for the game room area, it was directly to the west of the swimming pool/shower rooms area.’

‘The ship slowed its turn and headed toward the Timonium, a large quay to the west of the small harbour locked island of Antirrhodus.’

‘This beguiling little loch lies in the hills to the west of Ashkirk and north of Hawick, nestling between Belmanshaws and the Dod at a height of 320 metres.’

‘That said, we didn't know when it struck whether the epicenter was right around us, to the west of us or the east of us or in what direction.’

‘The latest advisory said that the hurricane was located 30 or so miles south of Hellshire Point in St Catherine. That's to the west of where we are.’

‘Flying foxes streamed overhead from the west, heading into town to roost after a night spent feeding in the mountains.’

‘We're in Beaumont, which is 15 miles to the west of Port Arthur.’

‘Waterloo has launched major new housing developments to the west of the city, and the undeveloped lands north of campus are soon to become a high technology centre.’

‘A west wind blew stiff and steady all morning, so I never really warmed up.’

‘The strong west wind off the sea maliciously whipped their cloaks around their bodies, making it difficult to walk.’

‘Although not actually showing the birth of Venus it shows her landing on the island of Cyprus, having been blown there by the west wind on a shell, waiting to meet her and cover her nakedness is one of her handmaidens.’

‘The west wind from the center was the hot desert wind, too hot to stand and talk in.’

‘A west wind blows biting flies out of the dunes and they build up at the water's edge.’

2Of or denoting the western part of a specified area, city, or country or its inhabitants:

‘West Africa’

‘Householders living in one of the most run-down areas of west Hull are being offered deals worth tens of thousands of pounds to help them move.’

‘Located in the city's west Hongqiao area, the hotel is in a forest of several hundred camphors, pines and maidenhair trees - a green oasis in a metropolis.’

‘The west Cork area was the only Garda division in Cork which reported a drop in the number of arrests for drink-driving.’

‘The woman, who lives in the west Clacton area, lost her 6-month-old daughter to cot death.’

‘People living in this area of west Limerick remain concerned at the continued health difficulties experienced by people and animals.’

‘The base is an enclosed courtyard in the west suburb of the city where over 40 police dogs are kept and trained.’

‘During the last year across the west Hampshire area over 30 drug-related arrests were made and three cannabis factories closed as a result.’

‘Their study of four rural development areas found that west Cork came more than 10 points clear of the national average.’

‘To the peoples of the west Nordic and arctic areas, hunting is a question of survival as well as an ancient cultural heritage.’

‘The men had lived together since moving to the city from west London in September this year.’

‘‘That growth,’ said city spokeswoman Sandy Webster, ‘will be absorbed in two areas - city centre and west Richmond’.’

‘The same cannot be said about the scenic west Sligo area of Skreen, which is experiencing the warmth of growth.’

‘Inspector Graham Dodd, who covers the west area of Stockport, attended the meeting to listen to the residents' problems.’

‘Thousands of young buyers in areas such as west Dublin have their computer industry jobs to thank for getting on the first rung of the property ladder.’

‘In 1996, she was appointed superintendent and given charge of the busy Lucan area of west Dublin.’

Phrases

go west

informal Be killed or lost; meet with disaster:

‘£200 million went west in an unprecedented gambling spree’

‘Then politicians came and the project went west.’

‘Perhaps a million dollars has gone west through failure to specify contracts properly in the first place, failure to supervise them, and failure to check that the children are actually registered and attending, or that they even exist.’

‘So the food wasn't the best, and the service almost immediately went west.’

‘And when they showed up at Newlands yesterday without Geordan Murphy - down with a chest infection - their chances of retrieval went west.’

‘Sorry, but the server has gone west for some reason.’

‘The hallmark of the Munster team for example is their capacity for calm when things are going west.’

‘Some residents fear that the rest of the shops in the village will go west once traffic calming measures have been installed on Bolling Road, banishing passing trade from the area.’

Origin

Old English, of Germanic origin; related to Dutch and German west, from an Indo-European root shared by Greek hesperos, Latin vesper evening.